Well Known Issues?

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FearNoEvil56

New member
I own a 2013 Chevy Sonic. Turbo. What issues will I be looking at down the line? What should I be prepared for and hopefully can prevent? Im at 25k miles and so far thee only issue is that one time my radio and turning signals would not work.
 
Espysonic

Espysonic

Member
FearNoEvil56 said:
I own a 2013 Chevy Sonic. Turbo. What issues will I be looking at down the line? What should I be prepared for and hopefully can prevent? Im at 25k miles and so far thee only issue is that one time my radio and turning signals would not work.
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PCV, Turbo, and intake as far as motor components, cooling fan, hvac, and that’s about all as long as you don’t mod much


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Natesriv

Natesriv

Lead Foot
only issue with mine was a bad waterpump (replaced free of charge, and a letter from GM saying if it did it again, bring it on back in for free replacement), and a slight leak in the oil pan, fixed free again.
There was a tranny whine, but I suspect that's just early process defects, the car never had any driveability issues because of it.
 
Maddmatts

Maddmatts

Member
Common issues for the 1.4T Sonic:
1) Front swaybar endlinks. Usually causes popping/clunking noises. Not a safety concern, they just get noisy.
2) Waterpump. Early versions tended to slowly leak. May also squeal while leaking.
3) Various plastic cooling components, specifically the overflow tank, water outlet and thermostat housing. High mileage Sonics are showing trends of these parts cracking from thermal-cycle fatigue. Thankfully cheap and easy to replace if you're the DIY type. Consider replacing with new as a preventative measure in the next few years.
4) Internal PCV valve in intake manifold can fail causing the cam cover to have a vacuum leak requiring the replacement of both cover and manifold. Will cause idle issues and external oil leaks if left unnoticed. This might mostly affect those with tuned engines running higher boost pressures.
 
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Blue Moon Sonic

Blue Moon Sonic

New member
Maddmatts said:
Common issues for the 1.4T Sonic:
1) Front swaybar endlinks. Usually causes popping/clunking noises. Not a safety concern, they just get noisy.
2) Waterpump. Early versions tended to slowly leak. May also squeal while leaking.
3) Various plastic cooling components, specifically the overflow tank, water outlet and thermostat housing. High mileage Sonics are showing trends of these parts cracking from thermal-cycle fatigue. Thankfully cheap and easy to replace if you're the DIY type. Consider replacing with new as a preventative measure in the next few years.
4) Internal PCV valve in intake manifold can fail causing the cam cover to have a vacuum leak requiring the replacement of both cover and manifold. Will cause idle issues and external oil leaks if left unnoticed. This might mostly affect those with tuned engines running higher boost pressures.
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All of the above happen regardless off being stock or not.

I'm going to also add the following to the list:
oil cooler
torque convert seal (early models w/ auto)
axle seals (all models w/auto)

Something to mention. The PCV, if left unchecked, can also cause turbo failure and also will destroy the factory WGA. Had it happen twice already.
 
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Tesseract_Indeed

New member
Maybe I got my Sonic AFTER all of these things failed, but I have a 2012 LT auto Sedan with 153K miles. I got it with 149K miles. So far I have only had heater hoses and coolant reservoir crack (yes the plastic container with red coolant), two turbo seals,a turbo coolant hose, PCV (that was fixed asap and therefore didn't lead to anything else). I was run off of the road and had a damaged mid-pipe, which was replaced with the ZZP midpipe and catback exhaust.

A lot of issues with the turbo can be avoided by allowing the car to idle for a minute or so after driving for a bit to allow cooler oil to get to the turbo. Hoses and things crack on any car, no matter what. It's what rubber does over time.
 
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suitcasejefferson

New member
Worst issue is engine damage cause by Dexcool, also known as Dexkill. Get that stuff out of your car NOW, flush it good, and put some regular OAT coolant in. I use Prestone. Dexcool WILL destroy your engine. I had to replace my water pump, thermostat, and water outlet assembly. The charcoal canister purge valve solenoid also tends to fail. Your engine will last a LOT longer if you change the oil every 3000 miles and warm it up for 5 minutes after it's been sitting for several hours before taking off. Maintenance, maintenance, and more maintenance is the key to a long life for any car.
 
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Tweaterben

New member
suitcasejefferson said:
Worst issue is engine damage cause by Dexcool, also known as Dexkill. Get that stuff out of your car NOW, flush it good, and put some regular OAT coolant in. I use Prestone. Dexcool WILL destroy your engine. I had to replace my water pump, thermostat, and water outlet assembly. The charcoal canister purge valve solenoid also tends to fail. Your engine will last a LOT longer if you change the oil every 3000 miles and warm it up for 5 minutes after it's been sitting for several hours before taking off. Maintenance, maintenance, and more maintenance is the key to a long life for any car.
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That is OOOOOLD news dude. Dexcool got that rep in the late 90's, early 2000's because GM did not switch any of their gaskets/seals to accommodate for the new coolant. That issue was resolved like 15 years ago when they discovered the issue. If any issues still exist, it's because people are either putting in a different kind of coolant and mixing them, or they are not changing it on time and letting it sit in there for long periods of time. DEX-COOL is actually a very good coolant, and other manufactures’ like Ford have started using the same basis, just under a different name. DO NOT REMOVE DEXCOOL FROM YOUR GM VEHICLES UNLESS YOU ARE REPLACING IT WITH DEXCOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Read up on it
 
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